Cordae - From a Birds Eye View

"From a Birds Eye View is OUT NOW EVERYWHERE ! Spent a lot of time, energy and emotion creating this. It’s gon resonate with the real ! Tell a friend 🦅👁"

@cordae on Instagram

"We all here for an assignment, severals souls that are migrant, simply vessels in this climate, solitary confinement" - Cordae on C Carter

Former YBN member Cordae released his album this month. Bursting into the scene with his My Name Is remix, he has since been putting in work as a solo act. From a Birds Eye View marks his second album. This album is better than what I expected; I really enjoyed it. I’ve been putting on repeat for a while now. The album is 14 songs long, split into Disks 1 and 2; nothing is put to waste on this album.

For Disk 1, he starts off the album with an interlude, a recording of his friend/brother Shiloh rapping over the phone (who’s currently in jail). The following songs at the beginning of the album sets the tone for the album, showing a level of self-reflection in different ways. Jean-Michael focuses on himself and things that could influence his mindset, talking about how he can be an over-thinker and wanting to be mindful about the decisions he makes for his career. In Super, one of the singles for his album, he is much more boastful about the material things and the assets he has, which he has worked for, and he does so over a heavy-hitting beat; this song is one of my favourites, the harmony for the melody with the drums typical for a trap beat is infectious. On Momma’s Hood, he’s self-reflective on a softer beat, helping you focus on what he’s saying; again, he speaks on decisions he needs to make, and he also touches on his past and the things he’s been through. I really like the hook on this song. Want From Me is him asking what people expect from him; he himself understands there’s a lot he needs to do, whether it’s for himself or for others and he needs to watch for outside influence that will sway him from his mission.

Getting to the middle of the album, Today (feat. Gunna) is a banger consisting of Cordae talking about getting money and recollecting being broke when he was younger. Gunna is a good supporting act here with his sound and flow to complement the song. A second interlude gives us a minor break, where we hear Shiloh once again. C Carter is another song talking about his dreams before he became a rapper and got rich, wanting to not be broke anymore. I like this song because he shows us how much care he takes with his art and his lyrics; he takes his craft seriously and lets us know this (in fact, he does this throughout this album). Also, Coach Carter is a quality film. Sinister (feat. Lil Wayne) is another single from the album. It’s very strong, and I’d say it’s his one of his best songs off of this album, going toe to toe with Lil Wayne lyrically; the smooth bass for the melody takes this song to another level. Then we have Chronicles, which has a heavy R&B sound featuring H.E.R. and Lil Durk. It’s refreshing to hear Cordae singing as he has a very nice voice and, to me, he outperforms the two featured artists.

As we get to the last songs of the album, we have Champagne Glasses (feat. Freddie Gibbs and Stevie Wonder). It’s absolutely class that he has an icon like Stevie Wonder on his album, even if he’s only playing the harmonica. However, I didn’t like Freddie Gibbs in this song. Westlake High is the outro to Disk 1 of this album, and it’s a good ending to the first part of the album. For Disk 2, we then have Parables (Remix) [feat. Eminem], the remix to the single The Parables; he talks about his struggles and poverty in his past, with Eminem doing the same. An Eminem co-sign is a strong indication that he respects you as a rapper, especially as Cordae has also featured in one of Eminem's recent songs called Killer (also featuring Jack Harlow), so big props to Cordae for having him as a feature and managing to stay on par with him. To finish off Disk 2, we have Gifted (feat. Roddy Ricch and Ant Clemons), another one of my favourites. Both Cordae and Roddy Ricch talk about their dream life and what they’ve managed to attain from going up impoverished.

From a Birds Eye View is a quality album. The production is brilliant, it really surprised me how much I would like this album. I’m giving it an 8 out of 10 as he has really impressed me. Cordae was always the better rapper amongst the YBN collective, but he’s really grown as an artist, and he has homed in on his lyrical prowess. No songs are a filler, they all fulfil their purpose in his story. He’s showing that he can be versatile and that he can create good art while giving quality content in his lyrics. This may very well be my favourite album of the year so far, so definitely give this one a listen. Super, Today, C Carter and Sinister are my favourites for now, but there’s so much quality in this album that my preferences may just end up changing. I really love it when rappers are attentive to what they say and the sound they want to identify with. Dropping the YBN name, we stray away from the ‘lil’ and mumble rapper identity and we recognise him as a serious lyricist with a lot to say; to go toe to toe with Eminem and Lil Wayne is not easy, so a young artist that can do that is definitely someone that can go far.